Retrieval devices are often used to remove organic material (e.g., blood clots, tissue, and biological concretions such as urinary, biliary, and pancreatic stones) and inorganic material (e.g., components of a medical device or other foreign matter), which may obstruct or otherwise be present within a patient's body cavities or passages. For example, concretions can develop in certain parts of the body, such as in the kidneys, pancreas, ureter, and gallbladder. Minimally invasive medical procedures are used to remove these concretions through natural orifices, or through an incision, such as during a percutaneous nephrolithotomy (“PNCL”) procedure. Retrieval devices are also used in lithotripsy and ureteroscopy procedures to treat urinary calculi (e.g., kidney stones) in the ureter of a patient.
Retrieval devices may include end effectors for manipulating objects. An exemplary end effector may have a plurality of arms that support a front loop that forms when the end effector is opened. A user may use the arms and front loop to capture objects and/or release captured objects. The user's ability to capture and/or release an object may depend on factors, including, for example, the ability of the arms and front loop to exert a grasping force on the object, the size of gaps or openings between the arms, and/or the size of the front loop. Some retrieval devices may be limited in their ability to retrieve objects due, for example, to the size of the end effector in its extended state (e.g., the end effector being too large or too small), and may be prone to breakage and/or require assistance from additional devices to remove large objects that cannot otherwise be released from the end effector. Thus, there remains a need for retrieval devices with improved capabilities.
The exemplary features of the present disclosure are directed to improvements in retrieval devices and related methods of use.